Meet Jasmine English, 2021 APSA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grantee

The American Political Science Association is pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRIG) Awardees for 2021. The APSA DDRIG program provides support to enhance and improve the conduct of doctoral dissertation research in political science. Awards support basic research which is theoretically derived and empirically oriented.

Jasmine English , Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Jasmine English is a PhD candidate in political science at MIT. Her research focuses on religion, racial and ethnic politics, political engagement, and activism. Her dissertation project, “Dilemmas of Accommodation: Diversity and Local Church Involvement in Politics,” examines how congregational diversity shapes the political activities of local churches. The project uses ethnographic and statistical methods to investigate how churches respond to diversity, and to draw out the implications of those responses for their political involvements. Jasmine will use the APSA DDRIG to support the collection of in-depth interviews with clergy and congregants.

Methodologically, Jasmine is interested in the potential for synergy between positivist and interpretive methodological approaches. Her coauthored research with Bernardo Zacka is forthcoming in the American Political Science Review. Jasmine’s work has been supported by APSA and MIT GOV/LAB, and she is a recipient of a Walter A. Rosenblith Presidential Fellowship at MIT. Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Jasmine graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with degrees in political science and economics.